On DX-peditions

I made contact with J51A on 15 today. Notable not just because it was an ATNO, but also because it had been exactly one month since my last ATNO on phone. A lot of that is due to my discovery of FT8. Band conditions have also stunk more often than not over the past 30 days. Bad enough that almost daily I peek out the window to make sure my antenna is still in the air and not lying on the ground.

Such is life on the high frequencies. Especially as we begin the descent towards solar minimum.

I had ran across J51A’s pileups a couple times this week, but today was the first time I heard them, and at a genuine 59. I set the rig for split, called a few times, and after my third call got a “Nine Delta Delta?” response. A quick confirmation of my call, exchange of 59s, and I had another pin in my virtual world map of radio contacts. Such a great feeling, to pop in, beat the crowd, and get out quickly. Especially when they had just admonished a couple operators for transmitting over stations that had been called. I like to think they knew I had been raised to have good manners.

I had no such luck with KP5/NP3VI last month. I ran across their pileups daily but never heard them as more than a whisper. I didn’t track them closely enough to learn their FT8 habits so did not get them there, either. Desecheo is far from unreachable, so hopefully I’ll get another shot in the future.

Which leads us to the DX event of the year, 3YOK from the near mythical Bouvet Island. This effort was controversial for a variety of reasons before the crew made it to the island. Now that they have arrived and are operating, they are earning more criticism for some of their choices. I’m not smart or experienced enough to have an opinion on that piece, but I found it interesting and fair.

If I am able to hear 3YOK, I will make an effort to reach them. However, I expect the pileups to be an order of magnitude greater than anything I’ve experienced in my brief ham life. It seems unrealistic that my little station in the middle of Indiana is going to get past all the big guns and connect with a target on the bottom of the world. Maybe once the pileups die down I’ll have a chance. If the sun and ionosphere cooperate. Even f K9JY believes their plan to be flawed, I’m still going to make the effort to land them on FT8.

Beyond the simple chase, there’s a philosophical discussion to be had about whether these DX-pedition trips are worth it. Bouvet is expected to cost close to two million dollars, if not more, by the time it is complete. All so hams around the world can talk to an uninhabited island in the south Atlantic. The ops will not be helping locals dig water wells or leaving gear behind for people who don’t have access to modern equipment. This is purely transactional for those of us who seek another DXCC entry.

“Surely there are better things that can be done with that money,” is a reasonable question. So too is the argument that people can do whatever they want with their money once their basic needs are provided for. If the investment in time and funds, and risk to their personal health pleases the operators, who are we to judge?